Outdoor work, such as yard work, etc. often requires walking through mud, dirt, puddles and other debris that may become attached to a persons shoes. At times, when performing the outdoor work, there is a need to go into a house or building, which is relatively clean, to answer a telephone, get a tool, take a work break, etc. When these situations arise, the person performing the outdoor work is faced with the alternatives of entering the house with soiled shoes or removing the shoes or boots. If the need to enter the house is to answer a phone or other exigency, there may not be time to remove the shoes, particularly if the person is wearing laced up boots. If there is time to remove the shoes, the wearer sometimes will get mud on his hands, clothes or other inconvenient places which may be accidentally deposited in the house. Further, when leaving the house the wearer has to stop and take the time to put the shoes back on. This will become very annoying and a waste of time if the person has to repeatedly go inside the house while conducting the outdoor work.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,470 to Schofield discloses an overshoe in the form of a terry cloth bag with an elastic hem at the top portion thereof. The overshoe is designed so that one size fits all. However, this does not provide a satisfactory solution to the problem discussed above. The Schofield overshoe must be slipped over the toe of the shoe with one or both hands and stretching the elastic around the heel. If the shoe has substantial amount of mud on it, it is likely that the mud will get on the hand while attaching the overshoe. Further, this would be very inconvenient to a person entering the house carrying an object with both hands. Also, when hurrying to answer the telephone, the process of picking up the terry cloth overshoe, determining where the toe is, and standing on one foot while slipping it over the other would be likely to consume the time that the wearer has to get to the phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,459 to Colman discloses a shoe cover for wearing over a shoe for the prevention of lint contamination in a clean room such as where precision equipment is assembled. The shoe cover is comprised of woven fabric and completely surrounds the shoe. This type of shoe cover would be unsuitable for covering muddy shoes for a quick errand because it would be difficult to attach and remove quickly. Moreover, the overshoe is intended to be used regardless of how clean or dirty the shoes are.
It is more conventionally known to provide overshoes to protect the shoes from the elements such as rain and mud rather than to protect the floor from the shoes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,423 to Schovee discloses a mens rubber with a flexible tab disposed from the heel. By stepping on the tab, the heel of the overshoe tilts to open to receive a shoe into the toe portion of the overshoe. However, as Schovee discloses, this is for protection of the shoe.
Accordingly it is the object of the present invention to provide an overshoe which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art as discussed above.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide an overshoe for protecting the relative clean interior spaces of a house from mud and soil that may otherwise be carried in from the outdoors by shoes or boots.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an overshoe which is simple and easy to use and which is easily attached and removed from a shoe or boot in a quick and simple hands free manner.